RGdot

Month: October 2009

  • DragTargets Makes Moving Files Convenient

    DragTargets is a desktop tool that is similar to DropIt featured here on RGdot.com.


    DragTargets
    DragTargets makes the task of moving or copying files more efficient by providing an interface that acts as alternative of opening instances of Windows or alternative Explorers and then navigating to a particular folder.
    When installed DragTargets presents a small window on the desktop, right clicking the window one can browse to a drive or folder and create a new dragtarget. After a new dragtarget is created any files dragged and dropped into the interface or target will copied to that destination or chosen folder. The default action here is to copy the files but checking the small square (see image) at the bottom of the program interface changes the action to move instead of copy.

    Additionally, clicking on any of the saved targets opens the destination folder so targets are also alternative shortcuts to folders and drives on the computer.

  • DropIt Organizes Files And Folders

    DropIt is a small portable download that helps manage the process of moving, copying and organizing files and folders. When installed DropIt adds a floating image or icon on the system desktop. Dragging and dropping files or folders over or into the icon moves or copies the files or folders into a configurable destination.

    DropIt
    Right clicking on the floating image one can access the program Settings where one can choose to move or copy files when using DropIt and to activate the feature which treats folders in the same way as it does files.

    Managing the main settings of the program is done via the same right click but instead choosing the Manage option. Here one can use the Search File button to find a file with the extension (*.jpg for example) one wants to work with or type the extension in the small box to the immediate right of the Search File button. After doing that one should press the Folder button to browse to the folder where the *.jpg (or other) files will be moved (or copied) to when ‘dropped’ on the DropIt icon. The chosen extension will then appear in the far right Extension List box. There after one can edit the association or setting for each file extension by highlighting it and editing the settings that appear in the Edit Associations area.
    DropIt is a useful tool for cleaning up the desktop or indeed any other folder.

  • Raindrop Is A New Messaging Experience From Mozilla

    Raindrop is one of the latest attempts to centralize all messaging and social netwroking activities on the web. It is an as yet unavailable prototype from mozilla messaging,  the people developing the Thunderbird email client.
    At first look at the early screenshots and concept videos available at the above site it looks like the developers are trying to aggregate all activity, twitter, email, youtube etc. into one place. As such this is not necessarily a new idea and places like Friendfeed (the link is to RGdot.com’s Friendfeed page) come close to doing that right now. I think what Raindrop tries to improve on is that experience but by allowing better syncing between devices, promising more customization and above all using an engine that can decide and help the user divide messages between the important or personal and the bulk or the spam – without going through filters or forever browsing through junk –  it can be even more. Not to mention that this is an open source project which goes beyond supplying an API, like most services like twitter already do. Raindrop aims to allow it to be used to store info locally or on a server. All these therefore make it really fully extensible and customizable.
    A promising new tool which may be able to stake a place on many desktops and gadgets.

  • PureText Clears Text Formatting

    puretext

    PureText does a simple task and does it well. It clears any formatting from text that is copied from such sources like the web.

    There are many occasions when a text needs to be copied without the original color, font face, font style or character margins and spacing. PureText does this without the need to follow any extra steps. For example pasting text in Notepad and then copying it again will clear all formatting but using PureText it is possible to use Windows+V (or other configurable keys) instead of the traditional Ctrl+V keys and paste any text unformatted.

    PureText does not require installation and when it is run it sits in the system tray. Right clicking its icon allows the user to configure any combination of keys by choosing any of the presented variations or to use the “Capture the next key typed’ button to choose and configure other variations. PureText should run on any Windows versions up to Vista.

  • Notes Organizer AllMyNotes

    Another interesting notes organizer is AllMyNotes. It stores notes in the familiar tree structure and boasts drag and drop and rich formatting as its features. It is also possible to password protect notes. AllMyNotes does both within notes and also global search. via ghacks

  • 24 October 2009: International Day Of Climate Action

    350.org is an international campaign dedicated to building a movement to unite the world around solutions to the climate crisis–the solutions that science and justice demand…More at http://www.350.org/mission and at http://www.350.org/multimedia

    Join me at http://www.350.org www.350.org

  • fSekrit Holds Your Secrets

    fSekrit is one of the many useful tools available from donationcoder. fSekrit has a very simple and useful purpose. Its purpose is to create encrypted notes and ones that are self contained. What this means is that when using fSekrit the note taking application and password setting and encrypting tool are one and the same.
    Double click on the fSekrit icon and start typing or pasting (or use Import text located under the File menu) the desired text. When exiting and saving the program will prompt for a location to save an *.exe file, not a *.txt file, and then also prompt for a password. No unencrytped text is written to the system’s hard disk and the encryption used is 256bit AES, a near unbreakable encryption standard.
    Download the latest beta from this thread or visit the above link for the older but non-beta release.

  • Pigeonhole Is A Convenient Notes Organizer

    Pigeonhole is a useful notes organizer that does a simple job well. The program interface is divided into a grid, clicking inside a grid opens a window where a note can be entered and formatted with anything from color to text case, blank line removal and more.


    Pigeonhole

    When a note is saved the first few characters would be visible on the program grid and here is where the usefulness of Pigeonhole comes in. Hovering over a note triggers a relatively large preview of the saved note. This used in conjunction with Find (Ctrl+f) makes it really easy to not only find a note but to also get an idea of its contents without too many keystrokes. The program also includes options to set it to start with Windows, to be maximized with a hotkey or by moving the mouse to the edge of the screen. The note data are saved in files named group.0, group.1, etc. but a peak inside using a text editor confirms that the they saved as pure text which makes future access to the data relatively painless.
    The free version includes one group or set which means 175 separate notes can be stored using it instead of the 20 groups in the professional or full version. Groups would be accessible from the File menu. Pigeonhole runs on Windows, from 98 to Vista.

  • StickySorter From Microsoft Office Labs Does Notes Differently

    StickySorter is another rather pretty innovative idea from Microsoft’s Office Labs, the site with ‘grassroots’ projects coming via ’employee initiative and ingenuity’. StickySorter is akin to mind mapping or brainstorming software but with a twist. The twist is that, as the name of the program implies, brainstorms take the form of sticky notes. Many a number of sticky notes can be added to the program’s interface and arranged in several different ways.

    StickySorter
    Each note can belong to a group to make sorting and arranging easier. Clicking customize under the note menu one can also create separate fields so that the text on the notes themselves can be categorized. The view menu includes several ways to arrange all notes such as piling notes on top of each other or aligning notes to grid. The search box works well as a text filter and does a good job with large collection of notes as well. The interface can be zoomed in and out or panned to bring into legible view as many or as few notes as needed. There is no networking or sharing feature built-in but separate *.csv files can be inserted into existing ones as a way to merge notes.
    The program’s FAQ page has a few more hints on usability. For example creating a field, using the aforementioned customize menu, and placing an ! in front of it will make the field appear only on the back of the note and selected notes can be flipped by pressing Ctrl+t.
    Perhaps the best attraction of StickySorter is that it saves everything in *.csv format. It is therefore usable even if the program is discarded for another similar software. StickySorter works on Windows XP or Windows Vista with .Net Framework 2.0